Wagoner wins third straight

His career at Wagoner had barely extinguished, but Malcolm Rodriguez was already being encrusted into Bulldog lore. Or so said the jubilant Wagoner coach Dale Condict.

“Start getting statue material ready,” Condict said after Wagoner finished off its third straight Class 4A championship with a 28-13 victory over Oologah at Broken Arrow’s Memorial Stadium on Friday night. “Not only is he a great football player, but he’s a great young man. He’s been an absolute joy to coach, and I’m so excited he’ll be playing college football here in the state of Oklahoma.”

Rodriguez wrapped up his Wagoner career by piling up 137 yards and two touchdowns on 20 carries, and through the air he completed 11 of 17 passes for 144 yards and a touchdown.

All of that after committing to Oklahoma State on Thursday night.

“It’s all exciting,” said Rodriguez, who also chipped in with 12 tackles on defense. “I’m happy and I can’t be on top of the world any more than this.”

Same goes for Wagoner. The Bulldogs finished off the season 14-0 and now are the owners of 37 straight victories — five short of Ada’s state record.

But Condict will save that for spring practice -and maybe not even then.

“We’re not going to talk about it,” Condict said while laughing. “We know it’s there, though. The guys are aware. It’s great to be right in the middle of the winning streak, and we’ll ride it as long as we can.”

Coming back with a crack at the state record will be junior receivers Nikia Jones and Patrick Curley. Jones, the hero with the game-winning touchdown catch in last year’s title game, was kept relatively quiet on offense with two catches for 16 yards and four rushes for 35 yards. His third-quarter interception did derail an Oologah possession that could have cut the Mustangs’ deficit to 21-14 with a touchdown.

Jones’ third interception of the year set up a six-play drive, which Rodriguez punctuated with a 4-yard TD pass to Curley, who finished with five catches for 90 yards and the Bulldogs’ final score.

“Big night for Patrick,” Condict said. “Dylan Mayfield also made some plays, and the same goes for Marvin Trotter. Those are three juniors that we’re very proud of.”

Oologah was within 14-7 at halftime, but the Mustangs couldn’t overcome the seven-point hurdle until the game’s final play -- a Rush O’Connor 23-yard pass from Casey Base.

“We came out in the third quarter and reestablished momentum,” Condict said.

Thanks to a 28-yard run on Wagoner’s first play from scrimmage, the Bulldogs marched 68 yards in 10 plays to score on their opening drive. Scottie Patton finalized Wagoner’s long march with a 1-yard touchdown through the right side of the line.

What followed was an early blow for Oologah.

Clayton Downum burst through the offensive line for a 12-yard gain, but he coughed up the football, which was recovered by Wagoner’s Steven Adair.

“We had a crucial turnover,” Oologah coach Brandon Craig said. “And you can’t turn the ball over in games like this.”

After reeling off another 10-play drive, the Bulldogs found the end zone again on Rodriguez’s 1-yard scoring run through a gaping hole on the left side. That gave Wagoner a 14-0 lead and gave the Bulldogs a 20 to one advantage in offensive plays.

“We got off to a bad start,” Craig said. “We had the turnover, and when you do that you’re putting yourself with your back against the wall.”

Oologah atoned for the early miscue with a 10-play drive of its own. The Mustangs’ Hunter Gibson tumbled over the top of the pile for a 1-yard TD run, and Oologah would claim its only momentum of the contest.

Wagoner reasserted itself in the third quarter with a drive that went eight plays and we finished off with Rodriguez’s 23-yard TD run.

From there, Wagoner’s defense took over.

“That put our defense in a really good situation,” Condict said. “They did a great job of staying patient with their running game. We just happened to come out in the third quarter and reestablish momentum.”

As for securing Wagoner’s third straight championship and the program’s fourth overall, Condict said he wouldn’t even have fathomed it several years ago.

“Just coming to this game and winning it once is a great accomplishment,” Condict said. “For these guys to go three years in a row, it’s a dream come true. I couldn’t even have put this on a goal list.”